The Long Run
by verfens
Summary: Gilbert's changed a lot since he was younger. And he's finally going to get Elizaveta to notice him, for better or worse. Domestic pruhun. Blind!Gilbert.
1. Chapter 1

The Long Run

Gilbert's changed a lot since he was younger. And he's finally going to get Elizaveta to notice him, for better or worse. Domestic pruhun. Blind!Gilbert.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His walking stick kept hitting the sides of the very narrow isle in the plane, and he grumbled loudly. Red eyes narrowed, and his nose crinkled. Damn. That was annoying.

"26 D, sir." Came the nasally voice of the young flight attendant. "Take a right, it's the first seat."

"Yeah, yeah." Gilbert muttered, holding out his walking stick for the young woman to take. There was a lightening of his grip, and he let go. As there was no clacking noise, he assumed she had it. He turned to the right, extending his hands in front of him, and felt his way into the seat, plopping down the first moment he could. He sighed. "Finally, the debacle is halfway over, not including going to see my relatives." The flight attendant laughed, though he didn't think it was that funny. She handed him his walking stick, and he set it in between his legs. She walked away, as he heard heavy footsteps moving away from him. Good riddance. He hated having to be /assisted/ on a god damn airplane.

But, as his lack of focus told everyone, he was as blind as a bat. Hell, worse than that, he was so blind drunkards could see perfectly fine compared to him.

It hasn't always been like this though. When he was young, he had been able to see perfectly fine, if he required glasses for reading. Then, as he grew older, 20/20 vision became a thing of the past. When he last saw his family two Christmases ago, who lived in Germany, he had needed the biggest, ugliest pair of glasses humankind had ever seen.

So naturally, he fumbled around, making a damn fool out of himself, instead of wearing them like her /should/ have been.

And the doctors scolded him, but told him that he had six months before his sight was gone completely.

Suckiest six months ever.

Nothing was worse than waiting to suddenly be in the dark, for good.

And now he was going to have to tell Mutti, Vati, Luddy, and all the other crazy relatives, that his sight was for shit, and he was officially blind.

That would be an interesting first conversation after his four years in the US for an international college experience. He wondered absently if they would yell at him for not divulging this information sooner.

Probably.

Especially Luddy.

That kid had a serious case of stick-up-his-ass-itis.

His cousin would probably have a field day, as he had been the only one Gilbert had told about the sight problem, and he would be all, /I told you so/, in his stupid nasally, self righteous voice. Gilbert's eyes were rolling at the very thought.

Little Lily and uptight Vash would be okay, he suspected. They would assume he had his reasons for not saying anything.

Mutti and Vati would be both disappointed and proud. He had not said anything, but had kept up his grades. They would hopefully get over it soon.

Seeing as this was going to be a hella long flight, Gilbert closed his eyes, and napped for the first solid few hours.

* * *

He should have known getting off would be harder than getting on. Gilbert internally groaned as a flock of stupid walked as slowly as possible down the aisle. Couldn't they see the struggling blind person? He loudly tapped the cane on the floor, and coughed. That, unfortunately, woke up the baby next to him. He, and a few other passengers gave the mother dirty looks as it wailed.

Babies. Don't. Belong. On. Planes.

Gilbert had to inevitably sit back down as the other passengers grew impatient with him, and he waited 10 minutes before he could get the fuck off the giant metal death trap.

His walking stick was tapping against the seats again, and he was ready to shoot someone.

He hadn't even gotten home yet.

* * *

When he finally, finally got to the hotel he was staying on, after a tram ride, a train ride, and a short car ride.

He rubbed his temples as he made his way along, having an assistant help him to the elevator. Once he was on the fourth floor, he could muddle his way along the hallway until he got to 457. Once there, he was lying down, and going the fuck to sleep, until his brother was knocking on his door with his giant fist that always knocked too loudly. It would come in the form of three loud thunks.

He got in the elevator, and had the assistant press the button for him. He heard the doors close, but didn't hear anyone in there with him, so he leaned back, waiting with his bags til he heard the elevator ding. He scooted off, and put his things down as he walked to the wall, and felt for the sign. He found it in a bit, and read the Braille directions. Go right for 450-459, left for 440-449. He turned right, and strode down to the end of the hall, counting how many steps he was taking, and then felt the door signs. 459, he read, so he went to the door next to it. 457.

He took out his room key, and slid it through the scanner, opening the door and feeling his way around. Once he heard the door close behind him, he plopped his bags down and sighed. He toed around the room, finding the bed, the dresser, and the TV. He accidentally missed tapping the desk, and knocked his foot into that. Fuck. Shit. Ow. That hurt.

Once he had mentally mapped the room (with careful consideration to the location of the desk) he found the bed, set down his walking stick, and got some more shut eye.

* * *

It came with three loud thunks, and one, "Gilbert Beilschmidt, wake up!" Gilbert laughed, and hoped out of bed.

"That's no way to treat your big brother after he flew all the way out here to see you graduate, even though you didn't see mine!" He said, while fumbling around for his walking stick. Once he found it, he went up to the door, retracing his steps, and going up to the door.

"Yeah, well, I brought you a little surprise for that." Ludwig said gruffly.

"I bet you mine is bigger!" Gilbert said, trying to lighten the mood before everything came crashing down.  
He opened the door, and opened his arms for a hug.

He of course got a polite hug, and then he forced his brother to give a better one by hugging him tighter, clinging to his walking stick. "It's great to see you too, Gilbert." He muttered, and Gilbert nodded.

"Great to be here!" He said cheerfully, attempting to look where he suspected Ludwig to be.

There was no response, and he could practically hear Ludwig's gears turning. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

Dammit.

"Uhhhh..." He fiddled with his fingers and walking stick.

"And what is that?" He asked, his voice becoming very calm. It was a ruse-the calm before the storm.

"Look, I can explain..." Gilbert started, but he didn't see Ludwig's hand go up to stop him, so he just continued. "It started soon after high school, and I'd been meaning to tell you..."

"You can't see my hand telling you to shut up, can you?" Ludwig said flatly.

"Damn. I forgot you did that." Gilbert muttered, sounding annoyed.

"You can't?!" He could practically hear the panic in his brothers voice. He felt the air in front of his face move, meaning Ludwig was probably waving his hand futilely in front of his eyes, trying to prove this wrong.

"No, I can't. Don't make a big deal out of this, Luddy." Gilbert attempted.

"How can I not make a big deal out of this, idiot?!" Ludwig yelled. "You're blind!" Gilbert sighed.

"Well, I was right, my surprise is definitely bigger."


	2. Chapter 2

The Long Run

Chapter 2

XXXXXX

"YOU IDIOT!" Ludwig yelled at him as he aided him to the elevator. "YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD SOMEONE-ANYONE!"

"I did." Gilbert muttered, looking annoyed and disgruntled as he retraced his steps, remembering how many steps he took, but accidentally running into his very muscular baby brother. "Damn, Luddy. You've been working out." He said, looking up so as to give the illusion he was looking at his face.

Ludwig moved away from him, and Gilbert attempted to follow him with his blind gaze, but got the direction wrong. "Wrong way, idiot." Gilbert turned for him, and then proceeded to thwack him with his walking stick since Ludwig had foolishly given away his location. "Ouch!"

"That's for yelling at the disabled person." Gilbert said, smugly. Turning to where he heard the ding of the elevator, he waited a second for the doors to open, and then walked on, swinging his walking stick in front of him.

"Ugh." Ludwig was probably rubbing his temples. "Either way, who did you tell."

"Roddy." He said, plainly. "He promised me he wouldn't say a word, so I told him, 'yo man, I'm totally going blind. Have about 6 months to see really crappily, then it's gone for good.' And he was like, 'Yes, pip pip, won't say a word.' In his stupid nasally voice."

Ludwig was probably rolling his eyes now. And Gilbert felt himself get whacked on the back of his head. Unlike his brother, he didn't cry out.

He had expected that.

"Nice, hitting the blind guy." He tsked, teasing his little brother, who was likely turning bright red.

"Oh, shut up!" Ludwig yelled at him, and finally got on the elevator, pressing a button with a small _click_ sound. He felt the elevator start going down in a few seconds. "So, when were you going to tell me?"

"I was in fact, planning to tell you on this trip." Gilbert said, feeling a little guilty. "I didn't want to worry you guys while I was still in school."

"Ah. That's still a silly reason. We would have helped you, not have done anything but that." Ludwig reached over, and put his hand on his shoulder. "I don't know why you'd think otherwise."

"I don't know Luddy. My train of thought was that you'd make me come home." Gilbert admitted, and they got off the elevator together, Gilbert waving his stick in front of him to ensure he didn't hit anything.

"We'd never have made you come home. You earned your way in that university. Mom will be proud that you did so well."

"That's what I'm hoping." Gilbert said, rubbing the nape of his neck with his hand. "Honestly, it shouldn't come out as a complete surprise. I'm albino. Eye problems are almost guaranteed."

Ludwig shrugged, before he helped Gilbert off the elevator once the doors had opened again on the first floor.

"What was your surprise?" Gilbert asked, confused.

"I bought you that video game you asked for a while back. But now, it's useless." Ludwig muttered.

"Sick, man, too bad I can't play it." In a heartbeat, the air of excitement had both entered and left him. "You can get me a seeing eye dog for Christmas now." He joked, and pat Luddy on the back. "I'll even let you say it's yours." Ludwig whacked him again, and they walked out of the hotel together, going to Ludwig's car, which Ludwig had to lead him to.

XXXXX

On the drive to their parents' home, Gilbert and Ludwig exchanged some banter, Ludwig eventually relaxing, and going back to his usual stick up his ass self, that told Gilbert to shut up when he made bad jokes. He still seemed a little off when Gilbert made bad jokes about his eyesight.

By the time they got to their previous home in Berlin, Gilbert had gotten around to asking who was there. "Vash and Lili are the only ones who haven't gotten here yet, but they'll be here tonight."

"Is Lizzy here?" Gilbert asked, a bit tentatively. She'd definitely mock him for his stupidity.

"Actually, she's here, but she's broken it off when Roderich." At that, red eyes widened, and Gilbert coughed on the drink he had been sipping.

"What? The lovebirds have finally fallen out of love?" He said, genuinely surprised. "I wonder why neither of them told me."

"Probably because they knew you were going to make comments like that. Despite no longer being his husband, Elizaveta was invited because she's such a good family friend." Ludwig explained.

Gilbert nodded, and felt the car stop. "Are we here?" He asked, though he knew, with dread sinking in him, what the answer was.

"Yeah, we are." Ludwig said, opening his door, and closing it once he was out. Gilbert was left with his thoughts for only a moment; now almost regretting his decision to avoid telling anyone, before Ludwig let him out, asking if he needed assistance.

Gilbert shook his head, and stepped down really heavily on a step that wasn't really there, cursing as he realized that he had misjudged how tall the car was, and almost toppled over, before Ludwig caught him.

"Idiot." He muttered, and helped him inside. They knocked on the door, and waited as their mother hustled her way over to the door, calling from inside the house.

Their Mom and Dad had broken it off when they were kids, and they had been raised by dad, for the most part. But for the sake of the family reunion, they were calling a truce, and allowing themselves to be seen together.

Their mother was a petite, but strong woman. She could be vicious at times, but generally was a supportive woman. Their father was sometimes cowed by her.

And that was what Gilbert was afraid of. Dad he could deal with. But Mom? She'd go nuts.

And naturally, she did just that. As soon as she saw the walking stick, she said his full name, and Gilbert cringed in fear.

"What on earth has happened to you? What on earth were you thinking!" She shouted at him, and Ludwig looked particularly cowed when she turned his attention on him. "And _you_! Why didn't _you _call me to warn me, or did you know before us?" She suddenly was suspicious. "How long have you known that he was _blind_?!" And there she finally said it.

That was going to spread like wildfire, as the amiable noise from the house suddenly quieted.

"M-Mom, he only just told me at the hotel-" Ludwig tried to explain, but she hushed him with a finger to his mouth.

"That means you had a full _hour_ to call me." She growled. "And we could have made preparations for him."

"Mom, I don't need anything special-" Gilbert tried to interject.

"You obviously don't know what you need if you decided you didn't need to inform us!" She went back to yelling at him, and Ludwig looked relieved to have the attention diverted from him.

The fight went on for another couple minutes, before their mother lost her steam.

"Alright, alright. I need to calm down." She said, now that that was out of her system. "You're blind now, and while you failed to tell us, you probably had your reasons."

Gilbert and Ludwig both breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, but you're okay for now." She said, probably glaring at them.

Gilbert gave her a shit-eating grin. "I'm sure the relatives heard you, so let's get this show on the road!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Long Run

Chapter 3

XXXXX

As he walked into the living room, he was grateful he couldn't see all the eyes that were probably focused on him right then. "Sup, guys." He said, casually, and tapped the floor with his walking stick. "I'm sure you heard that fiasco, but I think she's done yelling now!"

No one said anything.

Gilbert laughed awkwardly. "Come on guys, it's still me! I'm just blind now!" He tried to make it a little easier for them to get over it, but they seemed very sure in their decision to cling to the silence. He sighed.

"Look, I don't want you to make a big deal out of this."

"It is a big deal!" Ludwig said, and he assumed that was who put their hand on his shoulder. "But we're not going to change how we act around you, we promise."

"Yeah, we promise." Everyone in the room piped up, a few voices that Gilbert recognized. It was Dad, Roderich, Lizzy, Feli, and a few other miscellaneous family members whose names he didn't always remember. Oh yeah. That small voice was that little kid Roderich adopted. He had mentioned that on the phone some time ago.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes, and grumbled. "Yeah, you say that now, but I can already practically feel the vibes of "Dang, I feel sorry for him," floating in the room." He muttered, and tapped his walking stick on the ground. "I've dealt with this for a few years now. I've gotten used to not seeing."

Roderich spoke up. "Just so you know Gilbert, this means I don't have to keep quiet anymore, yes?"

"Yeah, Roddy." Gilbert rolled his eyes, and muttered something about how he was grateful he had kept it a secret this long for him anyway.

"You knew he was blind?" Elizaveta said, in a deathly calm. "And you didn't tell me?"

"He asked me to keep it quiet." Roderich said frostily. "And with all that you were hiding from me, I would think that I had the right to keep things secret."

"And you did! Like the one where you told me almost 3 years into our marriage about being _gay_." Gilbert raised his eyebrows in surprise. Although, when he thought about it, it wasn't that surprising. Especially when Gilbert thought about Roddy's adoration of Gilbert and Vash when they were younger.

Obviously, the ex-lovers hadn't yet finished quarreling.

"Elizaveta, Roderich, stop fighting!" Feliciano piped up from somewhere nearby. "It's all in the past! While I wish that Gilbert and Roderich had confided in us as well, I forgive them for not deciding to!"

Elizaveta made a few grumbling noises, and Gilbert heard her shift on the couch. "Fine, I won't bring our problems to the table."

"Thank you!" Feli sighed in relief. "This is supposed to be a celebration! Gilbert's out of college in America, Ludwig and I have graduated high school, and have been accepted into good schools, and you two have finally made final decisions regarding the divorce." Feli summarized. "And we're all back together as a family!"

"Are you and Ludwig _finally_ going out?" Gilbert asked teasingly, so he wanted to fall over laughing when Feli said yes _very_ enthusiastically.

Ludwig's face was probably bright red when he told Feliciano they hadn't come out yet, as he was almost stuttering. Gilbert finally howled with laughter, saying _that_ was the surprise he should have told him when Gilbert revealed he was blind.

Elizaveta was laughing with him, and it felt like old times again. "Nice Feli! You told us the news we've been waiting to hear since you two were _thirteen!_" Gilbert snickered at that.

"Especially since you two came out together. I expected to hear it _then, _but you two waited another _3 years._" Elizaveta howled again, and Ludwig whacked Gilbert across the forehead. This caused him to stop belly-laughing, but he continued to snicker. This was just too good.

"Yes, we're dating." Ludwig said gruffly, but he heard Feli walk, his footsteps light, and he felt him come close, obviously hugging Ludwig.

"Ludwig!" Feliciano dragged his name out. "Don't be such a hard ass! We've been denying this for a very long time!"

Ludwig didn't have anything to say about it, and he heard Feliciano give him a kiss on the cheek. "There. Now, Gilbert, come in, sit down!" Feliciano invited. "We obviously have a lot to talk about!"

XXXXX

Gilbert had been placed down in between the kid and Roderich, so that was hella awkward. He kept trying to move, and Feliciano always asked him if he needed help, and so he refused, so he stayed in his awkward position between a father and his son. Not to mention, he was close to Elizaveta, which was also pretty interesting. Especially because she kept jabbing Roderich when no one was addressing them, and Gilbert could feel him move against him to get away from her.

Ah yes, divorced couples.

Gilbert sat uncomfortably until Feliciano called break, and the adults in the room were asked by Gilbert's mother if they wanted beer. Gilbert naturally agreed immediately, and asked to switch places with Elizaveta, who was probably glaring at him when he asked.

Then everybody ended up switching places, and he was next to some unknown family member, but he didn't want to ask for his name because the guy seemed to know Gilbert, which was a huge embarrassment to Gilbert.

He just hoped the guy didn't notice Gilbert never used his name when he was talking to him.

They made small talk for a while, before Gilbert wanted to get a drink, and got up. Naturally, he tripped over someone's leg when they moved it after he had swung his stick in front of him.

He landed flat on his face, groaning. "Don't move your leg out of the way for my stick, and then put it back." He groaned, his brother helping him up, based off those strong hands of his.

"Right, it was a mistake." Ludwig said gruffly, covering his worry for his brother by making himself sound really tough. "We just need to learn not to do it again."

Gilbert grumbled, as that went against their previous statement they weren't going to change the behavior around him. But what could he do? He needed them to know that he didn't know where he was in space, unless he felt it with his stick.

Little did he know, Gilbert was being watched with worry by someone he wanted the attention of dearly.

XXXXX

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